"I think we've got to score more goals than the other team," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said on Tuesday at the Red Wings' hotel.

Babcock's team has done that once already in a Game 7 this year, beating the Ducks in Anaheim in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to set up a meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks that reaches its climax Wednesday night. This series has a different dynamic because Detroit went up 3-1 to start, and stood 20 minutes from closing out Chicago in Game 6 before the Blackhawks scored three goals. What does not change is the coach's general philosophy for a do-or-die game.

"I'm not a big momentum guy," Babcock said. "I just never have been. I believe you just play the game. ... You've got to be at the right level for you. Loose is a great way to be. But you've got to be intense about what you're doing, too, so there's a fine line there. I think when players are talking about being loose, I don't think they're talking about loose in a bar, I think they're talking about loose enough to execute, to do good things, to feel good about themselves. So, you don't want to be all wound up, but at the same time, you want to be amped up enough that you're at the best of your ability. That's the challenge, to walk that fine line.

"Each guy is totally different. That's the great thing about sport, is you're dealing with 23 different people, so that's 23 different ways. But as you go on in sport, as much as you have coaches, they're responsible for themselves and controlling their emotions. That's what the best of the best do. The other thing the best of the best do, is they rise to the occasion. Normally, that's not being special in those games. That's just doing what you normally do and allowing yourself to execute."

This is why Babcock is one of the best coaches in the business, with an Olympic gold medal, a world championship, and his name on the Stanley Cup to back it up. He succeeds in stripping away all the extra stuff that goes along with a big game and getting the simple message through to a diverse group of individuals—a message that will suit them all. Do what you do, play your game, and the result will take care of itself.

The Red Wings might succeed in scoring more goals than the Blackhawks. They might not. Chicago is an excellent team in its own right, with an excellent coach in Joel Quenneville. If both teams play their best game, then Game 7 comes down to how the puck bounces, and it's in the hands of the hockey gods. All that coaches and players can control is effort. One of the most important steps to doing that is to take Game 7 for what it is, and handle it accordingly.

For defenseman Niklas Kronwall, that means acknowledging that "when you're younger and playing on the street, these are the moments you look forward to, that you're in these situations, and we have to embrace this opportunity that we have in front of us." But, at the same time, he said, "I think everyone's different. I think you just try to go out there and keep doing what you do. I think if you try to go out there and do too much, you're overexcited, you're going to put yourself in a bad spot and make it tough for your teammates. Just go and continue to do what you do, and we'll be just fine."

That is the fine line that Babcock was talking about, and it was echoed in the words of goaltender Jimmy Howard: "I look at (Game 7s), they're a lot of fun. You lay everything out on the line, and that's the only thing you can ask from yourself. ... You don't get ahead of yourself. Don't try to accomplish everything in one shift or one save. It's going to be a grind out there tomorrow night, it's going to be a battle, and you've just got to stay within yourself. ... You just go out there and you play."

Howard said that he planned to watch some of Tuesday night's Game 7 between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, although he would probably miss the end to get a good night's sleep. Henrik Zetterberg also had an appointment with a television, and echoed his teammates and coach that "it's a lot of fun to be in another Game 7. We've been here before and we know what we went through last time before that game, and we just want to go out and play the same way."

Last time, the Red Wings scored three, and the other team scored two. That's how you succeed in a Game 7. It's pretty simple. Babcock knows it and has gotten the message to his players.